Vishal's Blog

  Is your rival really your foe? In a 5000m track and field event at the Rio Olympics, Nikki Hamblin from the New Zealand, struggling with injuries fell on the track bringing down Abbey D’Agostino, another athlete from the USA running behind her. The American was up but instead of continuing she began helping the Kiwi athlete to complete the race. Later both athletes were in agony due to respective injuries but helped each other to complete the race together depicting the true Olympic spirit. Both athletes were awarded the fair play award for helping a rival in pain. The gesture was like a speck of gold. Uruguay V/s Portugal – FIFA World Cup 2018 In the seventieth minute of the round of 16 match, Edinson Cavani - Uruguayan forward cramped and was in agony. Cristiano Ronaldo was focused on winning the game for his country that evening. But watching a fellow footballer struggle he stepped up to help.   A rival like Cavani was in a way fighting to squash Cristiano...

  What is being in the Zone ? Last Sunday, anticipating a busy week ahead, I was looking for some inspiration and bumped into the below quote by the legend Bruce Lee which drove my mind into a whirl. ‘Before I learned the art, a punch was just a punch, and a kick- just a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick, no longer a kick. Now that I understand the art, a punch is just a punch, and a kick, just a kick.’ Deciphering above quote - to a beginner, a punch or a kick is really that. Once he orients self, constant repetition helps him break the techniques into components and enables him to learn the nuances. Delving further, his body becomes one with the surroundings, moving smoothly with precision and control. When the feeling peaks, he is able to understand its mechanics and is able to fully focus on the target with no-mind also known as mushin . Wiki says mushin generally happens when the mind is free of anger, fear or ego and in an absenc...

Getting Green I woke up with a feeling of relaxation, envisaging a lazy day. The thoughts from the previous day at work were still there. They normally stay with me for the entire day, at times ensuring I am only physically present at home, not mentally. In the evening, I reached the dojo – my Karate school, which to me is a perfect get away from the stress of the entire week. The thoughts I had made me oblivious of the proceedings at the dojo. After the regular jimi ondo session in which we warm up our body and ready it for the arduous training, Sensei Bahadur announced my name. I suddenly realized I was going to get a Vidori Obi - the Green Belt. I passed the Ro Kyu, the 6th test a couple of days back and when the results were announced I was told I did pretty well. Having left the training midway 5 years back, the Green Belt to me appeared as attainable as a Film Fare award to Vivek Oberoi. Sensei Mahesh told me I was a half Kuro Obi – a Black Belt. I felt his words would act as a ...

The Patriotic Poet How do Indians show their patriotism? They say it with a song. Many singers and poets have gloriously conquered the psyche of the Indians with their work. One such artist who had the ineluctable creativity and power to do it consistently was Kavi Pradeep. Enslaved by the fervid love for the country, he wrote many songs which captured the imagination of the nation like Chal Chal Re Naujawan (film - Bandhan), Aao Bacchon Tumhe Dikhayein (film - Jagriti), and Upar Gagan Vishal (film - Mashaal). During the Quit India movement, the ebullient poet wrote a song "Dur Hato Ae Duniya Waalon" (film - Kismet) out of sheer gumption and aplomb which echoed the sharp cry of the freedom struggle and acted as a catalyst to motivate the people. When the British government understood the underlying meaning of this song, they issued an arrest warrant for Pradeep, who was then forced to go underground. The song written for the film Jagriti in the year 1954 "Dedi hamein aza...

Last week I went for a Bowling session with some friends. After a couple of chances, I was scoring well and was racing ahead. While I was getting ready for the next game one of my friends was in awe, and mentioned that I was the only best performer amongst all who were playing and he also said he was sure I am going to win. With a big smile on my face, I rolled the ball. But to everyone’s surprise the ball rolled into the next lane. The next two chances hardly fetched me any points while others did well. I finished second. I lost a game I was winning. Yesterday, in one of my Karate sessions, Sensei Jayesh was talking about Mushin which in Japanese literally means ‘No Mind’. Joe Hyams the celebrated Writer and a student of the immortal Bruce Lee also mentions about it in his book - Zen in the Martial Arts. Sensei said there are certain things that we do in our daily life without thinking much about it, for example when a fly sits on the nose, the hand automatically moves in that direct...

Many people have an uncanny habit of listening to other people’s conversation. I have it. Though I may not be very keen to do that, but it happens unknowingly. It may not be polite but a few times (mostly while travelling) I have come across situations when I was inadvertently listening to my neighbours’ conversation, trying to make the morbid journey interesting. Last Friday on my way back home, while getting down from the train I over-heard two ladies discussing with each other about an interesting experience. As I was looking forward to get down from the train, I was away from them in a moment to hear their discussion further. After getting down from the train, the walk down the road to my house was full of anticipation. I kept wondering what that interesting experience could have been. A movie, a meeting, a friend, a boy-friend, a lover, a travel experience? I probably may never know because I never knew them at the first place. These ladies too may never know how their harmless go...

My phone rang and when I picked it up, I heard a happy voice at the other end. It was Samir, my friend Raj’s younger brother who was a fresher and was looking for a job. Raj who is in the UK, called me a few days back and requested me to help his younger brother find a job. Samir, therefore used to call me regularly to check if I could help him. But that day was a different day as he had found himself a decent job in a leading pharmaceutical company in Mumbai. The salary offered was good and the company was located in Andheri (a suburb in Mumbai) which wasn’t too far from where Samir lived, which excited him as he didn’t have to travel much to office. Samir used to ride his bike to work, much to the dislike of his parents because they felt it was unsafe for young people. His argument was that, it helped him save a lot of time. I distinctly remember that day he wanted to meet me and thank me for trying to help him find a job. I told him that he doesn’t have to thank me for doing that, b...

Humans are born with discrete levels of zest and trait. Every human life goes through cyclical ups and downs. Birth and Death are the irrevocable extremes. Extremes are inevitable truth of life; and they define each other’s existence. Nature also exhibits different extremes- Hot and Cold, Day and Night, etc. The Chinese call such polar forces as “Yin” and “Yang”. Yin represents “darkness” and Yang represents “brightness”. Yin and Yang are thus; two sides of the same coin and are always associated with each other. The underlying principle of our life is based on these unparallel forces. Being a Goju-Ryu (Japanese) style Karate student, the above principle is easy to understand. In Japanese dialect, the name Goju means Hard and Ryu means Soft. It is also referred to as the Hard and Soft style. This style is based on synchronization of two extreme forces such as, Hard and Soft. A hard blow by opponent is blocked by a comparatively softer force and vice-versa. This style helps in conservin...